Fish aquariums are becoming increasingly popular for both home and office use. Aquariums typically include a pump and filter arrangement to remove fish waste, uneaten food and other impurities from the aquarium water and, for aesthetic purposes, a layer of gravel on the bottom of the aquarium. Despite improvements and advances in the field of aquarium filtering systems, a quantity of fish waste and other aquarium sediments typically accumulates along the bottom of the aquarium and adheres to the gravel. This accumulation of waste and other sediments not only provides an unsightly and undesirable appearance but also endangers aquatic life.
An increasingly preferred method to clean aquarium gravel is to employ a suction or siphon device. U.S. Pat. No. 282,016, by Chesnut, issued Dec. 31, 1985, discloses a design for an aquarium gravel cleaner used to siphon sediments from gravel. The cleaner consists of a cleaning tube, a check valve assembly to self-start and regulate the siphon process, an angled siphon hose junction, and a siphon hose. The siphon hose discharges into a container such as a bucket. Such devices remove not only sediments from gravel but also a portion of the water from the aquarium, simplifying the important task of periodically changing a portion of the aquarium water. Without gravel cleaning and water changes, the nitrogen cycle (the conversion of ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate) will cease to function properly, causing toxic water conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,784, by Reyniers, issued Sep. 9, 1986 discloses an aquarium cleaning device consisting of a gravel tube connected to an elongated flexible hose which is in turn connected to a faucet pump mounted on a water faucet. When the water faucet is turned on, the faucet pump causes water from the aquarium to be drawn through the gravel tube and the elongated flexible hose and discharged into the sink. The rate of flow of the water through the gravel tube and flexible hose is controlled by a manually operated butterfly valve. When the desired amount of sediment is removed from the aquarium gravel, the faucet pump may be disengaged to cause a reverse flow of water from the water faucet to the aquarium to refill the aquarium tank.
Prior art aquarium gravel cleaning devices have several drawbacks. First, many prior art aquarium gravel cleaning devices typically require the user to immerse his hands in the aquarium water to operate the device. The presence of aquarium water on the user's hands is not only uncomfortable and annoying but also unsanitary. Second, no prior art aquarium gravel cleaning devices are designed to permit the efficient removal of sediments from gravel adjacent to aquarium walls and corners or aquarium decorations. Prior art devices typically have circular configurations which are not compatible with straight aquarium walls and corners and many aquarium decorations. Third, aquarium gravel cleaning devices must often be restarted repeatedly during use as a result of siphon stoppages or impediments caused by a variety of factors including the kinking or pinching of the siphon hose as the device is maneuvered around the aquarium and the removal of excess amounts of water from the aquarium. Fourth, the self-starting mechanisms used one-piece spherical plastic check balls which were often unable to form a water-tight seal with the check ball seat. In molding the check balls parting lines or ridges would form on the exterior surface of the ball destroying the integrity of the seal. Because the balls are spherical, the balls could not be prevented from rotating such that the parting line would contact the check ball seat. The typical process to remove the parting line is an expensive tumbling process which substantially increases the cost to manufacture the check ball. The integrity of the seal is also disrupted by warpage or other irregularities in the spherical shape of the check ball caused by entrapment of air bubbles in the ball and unequal cooling rates of the plastic in different parts of the ball. For example, the plastic in the center of the ball is generally at a higher temperature than the plastic located in other parts of the ball and therefore cools more slowly, causing surface irregularities.
Gravel is not the only part of the aquarium that requires periodic cleaning. The interior surfaces of the aquarium typically become encrusted with a variety of substances including algae and various chemical deposits. An aquarium may have different types of surface deposits at different locations on the tank.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,766, by Goldman, et al., issued Feb. 25, 1986, discloses a cleaning device permitting the interchange or replacement of cleaning elements to clean the various types of deposits that occur on interior aquarium surfaces. The device includes an elongated handle, a non-rusting glass scraper, and rigid projections from the head piece to hold the cleaning material in position during use. The cleaning material can be any non-rusting, non-corrosive material of sufficient strength to withstand the force generated while the aquarium surface is scrubbed.
No prior art aquarium cleaning device cleans both aquarium gravel and interior surfaces. Prior art aquarium cleaners are designed either for the cleaning of aquarium gravel or surfaces but not both. With such devices, the user typically first cleans the interior surfaces of the aquarium which causes materials deposited on the surfaces to cloud the aquarium water. This task is complicated by the tendency of the handles of such cleaning devices to bend or break when they encounter tough surface deposits. After the surfaces are cleaned, the user employs a second aquarium cleaning device to clean the gravel and remove the materials clouding the aquarium water surface. By this time, a significant amount of the surface materials has settled onto the aquarium gravel and decorations complicating the cleaning process.